MARCO ISLAND, FL (December 3, 2023) – From December 1-3, nearly 400 friends and supporters traveled to the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Florida to attend the 15th annual David Ortiz “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic. Hosted by the ten-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion and MLB Hall of Famer, the three-day destination event has raised $1.425M (and counting!) – exceeding the event’s fundraising goal of $1.4M – for the David Ortiz Children’s Fund whose mission is to provide lifesaving heart surgeries and care to children in Big Papi’s native Dominican Republic and New England. To date, the surgeries made possible by the David Ortiz Children’s Fund have saved the lives of 1,434 children and aided an additional 15,863 kids. Since the event’s inception, nearly $13.9M has been raised for the cause.
In between hearing the touching stories of some families the Fund has assisted, the star-studded event had plenty of fun and surprises. Amongst the more than 40 celebrity guests who attended were former Red Sox teammates Johnny Damon, Clay Buchholz, Brock Holt and John Lackey; fellow Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Jim Rice as well as fellow 2022 MLB Hall of Fame inductee Tony Oliva; MLB legends Jose Bautista, Andruw Jones and Félix “King Félix” Hernández; former Boston Bruins and Stanley Cup Champions Tuukka Rask and Shawn Thornton; Super Bowl Champs Marshall Faulk and Lonie Paxton; actor Jesse Metcalfe; among others.
On Friday night, Ortiz led a tearful tribute dedicated to the late Tim Wakefield who Ortiz noted was the “forever MVP” of his charity events before announcing the renaming of their “Person of the Year” award in his honor. NFL correspondent Annie Agar hosted the evening’s golf draft where Shawn Thornton took the top-bid captain spot for a remarkable $20,000. On the course, Ortiz’s son, D’Angelo, was selling “mulligans for donations” like hotcakes to golfers who were a bit off their game. At Saturday’s awards ceremony, the foursome led by celebrity captain Andruw Jones were crowned the 2023 golf champions.
Event b-roll and photos with caption information (credit: David Ortiz Children’s Fund): Google Drive.
For more information on the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, please visit: https://davidortizchildrensfund.org/.
ABOUT THE DAVID ORTIZ CHILDREN’S FUND:
The David Ortiz Children’s Fund provides critical pediatric healthcare to children in New England and the Dominican Republic. The David Ortiz Children's Fund has provided over 1,400 children with lifesaving heart surgery in the Dominican Republic and has helped thousands more throughout New England region. In 2011, David Ortiz was awarded the Roberto Clemente Award by Major League Baseball for his work with the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. For more information, please visit: www.davidortizchildrensfund.org.
ABOUT MASSGENERAL HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN:
With more than 300 physicians, 50 medical specialties and 15 surgical services, plus complete access to the resources of the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital, MassGeneral Hospital for Children is dedicated to providing high quality, personalized, developmentally appropriate care for infants, children and adolescents. For more information, please visit: www.massgeneral.org/children.
ABOUT CEDIMAT VASCULAR CENTER:
CEDIMAT Cardiovascular Center is the first center in the Dominican Republic that performs neonate cardiovascular surgeries. It’s a Pioneer center in many interventional as well as surgical procedures. Through their social program and with the help of foundations like the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, over 2,200 children have received pediatric cardiovascular carefree of charge. For more information please visit: http://www.cedimat.com/cardiovascular/cardiologia-pediatrica/.
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